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NASCAR Phoenix: Points leader Jimmie Johnson claims pole position

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson will start the penultimate round of the 2013 season on pole position after topping Phoenix qualifying

The Hendrick Chevrolet driver lapped the one-mile circuit in 25.848s to pip Denny Hamlin in the final moments of the session.

Johnson was one of the last drivers to run but, after topping practice, continued the strong form that earned him victory and the championship lead at Texas last weekend to claim pole.

His joy was in contrast to the struggles of chief title rival Matt Kenseth, who ended the session 14th and almost three tenths of a second off the pace.

Kenseth, who trails Johnson by seven points with two rounds remaining (including Sunday's race), was the fourth driver to run but only managed to go second to Dale Earnhardt Jr before the pair tumbled out of the top 10 altogether.

The latter will line up 11th, with 2012 champion Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard between them.

Kevin Harvick, who lies third in the points, was ninth quickest. He briefly held provisional pole, before Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Hamlin each took a turn at the top of the timesheets.

Hamlin's benchmark held until Johnson emerge late on, but when he did he slotted straight into fourth on the leaderboard and then found another tenth on his second run to edge out Hamlin and claim a new qualifying track record.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time     Gap
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet           25.848s
 2.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             25.895s  +0.047s
 3.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  25.910s  +0.062s
 4.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             25.927s  +0.079s
 5.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           25.969s  +0.121s
 6.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               25.975s  +0.127s
 7.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           25.989s  +0.141s
 8.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      26.003s  +0.155s
 9.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          26.031s  +0.183s
10.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               26.074s  +0.226s
11.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           26.077s  +0.229s
12.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  26.093s  +0.245s
13.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          26.137s  +0.289s
14.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             26.143s  +0.295s
15.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          26.153s  +0.305s
16.  Mark Martin         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       26.199s  +0.351s
17.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       26.232s  +0.384s
18.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            26.240s  +0.392s
19.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   26.283s  +0.435s
20.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   26.288s  +0.440s
21.  Elliott Sadler      Waltrip Toyota               26.337s  +0.489s
22.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            26.339s  +0.491s
23.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  26.428s  +0.580s
24.  Reed Sorenson       Leavine Ford                 26.452s  +0.604s
25.  Justin Allgaier     Phoenix Chevrolet            26.469s  +0.621s
26.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota         26.478s  +0.630s
27.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            26.481s  +0.633s
28.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               26.511s  +0.663s
29.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                  26.526s  +0.678s
30.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 26.553s  +0.705s
31.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    26.588s  +0.740s
32.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       26.592s  +0.744s
33.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               26.603s  +0.755s
34.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               26.612s  +0.764s
35.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            26.645s  +0.797s
36.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  26.694s  +0.846s
37.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    26.737s  +0.889s
38.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                26.760s  +0.912s
39.  Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 26.792s  +0.944s
40.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       26.882s  +1.034s
41.  Tony Raines         Hillman Chevrolet            27.261s  +1.413s
42.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            27.360s  +1.512s
43.  Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 27.549s  +1.701s

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